


A Beeutiful Holiday

by ManlyQuail



Series: A Million Times, A Million Lives [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Christmas, Cute, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hanukkah, Holidays, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28248480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManlyQuail/pseuds/ManlyQuail
Summary: Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna are living together away from home for the first time. The holidays are strolling around and the pair realize they each had different ideals about how they'd be spending the winter season.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: A Million Times, A Million Lives [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2061915
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	A Beeutiful Holiday

“Have I ever said how much I  _ love _ your mother’s cooking?” Falling back onto the soft sofa of the living room with a thud, Yang Xiao Long let out an audible belch that filled the brief silence after a heavy dinner. Stretching out her limbs, she relaxed into a comfortable position with her flowing messy blonde locks parted around her neck and down her chest. The sudden sound of clattering dishes in the other room signaled that her girlfriend, Blake Belladonna, had just finished putting their dishes away in the washer. With an eager smile and twinkling violet eyes, Yang watched as the girl with short black hair stepped back into the room, and she scooted over while patting the empty space beside her.

“You’ve mentioned it pretty much nonstop since Thanksgiving.” With a chuckle, Blake happily approached and took a seat beside her partner, looking at her with equal adoration through her own golden irises. Leaning over, she rested her head gently on the chest of the other, taking a brief moment to enjoy the warmth of her body and the sound of her heart.

“I guess I just wanted to say how  _ thankful _ I am that she’s an amazing cook who had so many leftovers.” Chuckling now to herself, Yang looked down as Blake gave her a brief glance in regards to the poor attempt at a pun before shaking her head with a light giggle, sitting up, and stretching herself out as well.

“We’ll have to let her know how you feel then, and I’ll make sure she whips up extra when Christmas comes around.” Glancing towards the television, Blake reached to the end table for the remote and began to aimlessly flick through channels to see if anything interesting was on. They’d reached the awkward time between holidays where Thanksgiving and Black Friday specials had passed, but it was still early enough that channels weren’t yet cramming the winter holidays down any throats. “Anything you wanna watch?”

As she continued to aimlessly click through the channels Blake repeated herself before slowly looking towards Yang, who appeared to be deep in thought.

“Hey, are you okay?” Sensing something might be wrong, Blake flicked the TV back off and placed a gentle hand on the knee of her companion.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I was just uhh…” Pursing her lips, Yang gave a nervous look to Blake. “You mentioning your mom making more food for Christmas got me thinking is all. Where  _ are _ we spending the holidays?”

“Oh.” Blake paused for a moment, realizing she’d just assumed that much like Thanksgiving they’d be spending Christmas with her own family as opposed to visiting Yang’s. “I mean, did you have a preference of where we go?”

Yang looked away for a moment, her brow furrowing in contemplation as she glanced out the window where a light sprinkling of snow had started to fall. It was clear something was on her mind, and she turned back to Blake awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

“I’d kind’ve hoped we’d be able to spend Hanukkah with my family is all. Since we just spent a holiday with yours, I thought you wouldn’t mind if we switched off. I mean, these’ll be some of the first holidays we get to spend together as a couple since we moved in together, y’know?. Is that cool?” Yang bit her lip anxiously, her explanation causing further concern to spread across Blake’s face as it was her turn to nervously look away.

“I mean, I’d love that, but can we afford it?” Yang’s heart sank quickly as Blake seemed to be looking for an excuse to say no. “I’d love to be able to spend the holidays with your family, but my family is just down the road and we still have a few bills to pay…”

“I’m sure if we asked our families they’d be more than willing to help. We can stay with them or get a hotel, it’ll only be for like two weeks so it’s not like we’ll have to buy any groceries or spend too much money while we’re out.” Yang reached out to place a hand on Blake’s, hoping that the other girl would come around and agree with her, but Blake continued to avoid her gaze.

“It’s just, I’ve always spent Christmas with my family and as much as I’d love to spend two weeks with yours I still don’t know them all that well. What if they don’t like me or something happens on the trip over? We could end up stranded by the weather for so much longer-” Blake started to list off numerous concerns she was slightly paranoid about. She’d lived in the small town with her family for as long as she could remember, so the idea of suddenly travelling halfway across the country to spend two weeks with a family she didn’t know much about in a hotel that could be filled with weirdos or bugs wasn’t the most enticing of ways to spend the holiday season.

“If you don’t want to see them you could just say so.” Yang’s voice has suddenly become frigid. She withdrew her hand and let out a sigh as she glared towards the black screen of the TV.

“Yang, please, it’s not like that. It’s just, with last minute travel plans that’s a lot to come up with, and my family is already expecting us. What if we switch off next year, when we have more time to prepare and know ahead of time?” Blake pleaded with Yang, she could tell she’d unintentionally hurt the feelings of the other, but Yang simply shook her head.

“It’s fine, I get it. Just… what if we each go see our own family and just like, video call or something? That way we both get to see our family and still see each other, okay?” Yang seemed to be struggling with her proposed compromise, clearly still bothered by Blake’s hesitation with going with her to see her own family, and Blake felt a tightness in her chest at the idea of spending the holidays apart.

“I mean, maybe, but I really wanted to spend the holidays with you by my side. You always had to go home for the holidays, but now that we’re living together I was hoping we could start some traditions of our own. We could do all the cheesy romantic gooey stuff we’ve always wanted to do for the holidays, like kissing under the mistletoe, taking cheesy pictures together, things like that!” Blake offered a smile, reaching out to try and take Yang’s hand once more, but Yang pulled away and shrugged.

“I guess we could do all that stuff early, have our own party here before we go see our families. That way we still get to do all that stuff and then, y’know…” Yang’s face had relaxed somewhat, that as frustrated as she was with Blake she couldn’t help but feel some joy in the ideas of all the gooey romantic things they could do in the meantime.

“I’d actually like that a lot.” Blake’s continued smiling caused Yang’s conflicted emotions to fade slightly, and she couldn’t help but make a tiny smile back. “So, how about we get started now with some reindeer games and cocoa?”

The waggle of Blake’s eyebrows broke the last of Yang’s wall and she couldn’t help but chuckle and nod at the way Blake somehow made watching a kid’s movie together sexy. Leaning forward, the two exchanged a kiss as Blake hopped up and moved back to the kitchen to get their cups ready. As Yang watched her go, she couldn’t help but recognize that she wasn’t entirely satisfied with the decision, but at the very least she didn’t want to spoil the time they  _ would _ spend together.

Over the next few weeks the pair kept the conversation buried. To them it was as if they were having their own holiday together, sharing both Christmas and Hanukkah movies, Blake was surprised to learn a lot about a holiday she’d never experienced. In fact, she even became slightly jealous at the telling that the holiday was several days long with gifts each day.

“It’s normally supposed to be money,  _ gelt _ , but sometimes that merry Christmas spirit finds it way in and people will give out presents too.” It was a few days before Yang would have to leave, and she couldn’t help but lament how unlucky they were that Christmas fell on a day of Hanukkah that year. The pair were cuddling in front of the TV once more, wrapped in several layers of blankets to keep each other warm as they simply enjoyed their time. It felt like they’d done it all, from finding mistletoe to smooch under to have their own little gift exchange where Blake received a signed copy of a book from her favorite author, and Yang received a brand new tool kit to work on building her custom motorcycle. Unfortunately, just beneath the love and joy being experienced between the pair, there was a cold sense of worry and discomfort threatening their peace.

Before they knew it, the day had arrived. Yang had spent the previous night packing, but as she bundled up to head out into the cold, she was surprised with how positive Blake seemed to be. It worried her, that deep down maybe she was the only one truly bothered by the fact they’d be spending such an important part of the year apart, but as Blake too bundled up in preparation to see her own parents she was smiling ear to ear.

“Welp. Guess this is it…” Yang trailed off, hoping that she’d see some pain or hesitation in Blake’s eyes, but instead the other girl almost seemed  _ eager _ for her departure. The knot in her chest tightened further, and her voice grew colder as they moved through the steps of their awkward goodbye.

“Yeah, I guess so! I’m gonna miss you Yang.” Blake embraced Yang with a tight hug, squeezing with far more enthusiasm than Yang had expected, before pulling away to grab her own luggage.

“I’ll miss you too.” Yang spoke the words, but somewhere inside she was worried she might not have meant them. Guilt suddenly flooded her system, but as Blake opened the door to their home and a rush of cold air broke through the layers she was wearing, she quickly pulled her luggage out into the cold and rushed to her car. Opening the back door, she absentmindedly put her luggage away and kept her eyes on Blake, the other girl wasting no time in tossing her things in her own vehicle and giving an excited wave back to Yang.

“Call me as soon as you get there! I want to see your smiling face and to know you got there safe and sound!” Blake’s face vanished as she crawled into her own car and the engine roared to life.

“I’ll do that.” Speaking mostly to herself, Yang slowly lowered herself into her own vehicle, hesitating to turn it on in hopes that any moment now Blake would rush over and offer to join her on the ride over. Instead, she watched as Blake’s vehicle pulled from their driveway and drove in the direction of the Belladonna family home without wasting even a second. Shaking her head and sighing heavily, Yang’s car began to hum at the turn of her own key, and fastening her seat belt she pulled out and drove away in the opposite direction of the love of her life.

It all felt so wrong. Yang’s mind was distracted, filled with guilt, doubt, worry and fear as she drove. Her eyes glossed over once or twice, though she’d occasionally snap to in order to better focus on the road, but the thoughts rolling through her head were causing her so much pain she couldn’t think straight.

Not even five minutes into her drive, Yang pulled over in front of a random house, turned off her car, and screamed. The buildup of anxiety over the past month had spilled over, and she couldn’t stop herself from letting it all out.

_ Did I do something wrong? Does she really just not want to spend the holidays with me? Was she satisfied with all the things we did and thinks this is okay? Am I overthinking this whole thing and making something out of nothing? _

The thoughts were endless, and for a time she thought about not even going to see her family. If this was the pain that would be caused being apart, then maybe…

Yang blinked at a sudden sensation in her pocket. Her cell phone had started to ring, and as she drew it from her pocket she tilted her head at the ID of the caller.

“Blake?” Doing her best to make sure her emotions didn’t show, Yang spoke softly and did her best to steady her breaths.

“Yang! Sorry, I hope you haven’t gotten too far! I didn’t realize till I got here but I think I left a gift for my parents in your car!” Blake’s tone was urgent, and Yang looked curiously over her shoulder and into the back of the car. On the seat beside her luggage was a thinly packed gift with a little red bow on top.

“Uhh yeah, it’s here. Why is it in  _ my _ car?” Her voice was somewhat shaky, but she managed to remain calm as she guessed at what Blake was going to ask next.

“I think I went out to put it in mine last night, but it was so dark I got confused.” Yang raised a brow at this, knowing that they each parked in a specific half of their driveway every day, but she decided not to push the matter and simply sighed.

“I suppose you’d like me to stop by and drop it off?”

“Would you? It would mean so much, and I think my parents would love to see you even for a minute! I promise we won’t keep you too long though.” Blake’s voice had returned to the eager state it had been before they’d left, and Yang took another heavy breath as she contemplated pretending like she was already on the highway and it would be too inconvenient to turn back now. Instead, as she looked back at the gift in her back seat, she realized that she wouldn’t want to put any more potential strain between them than there already was.

“Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Yang smiled softly, taking the smallest bit of solace that she’d at least see Blake one more time before leaving.

“Okay! I can’t wait, I love you!” Blake’s excitement was contagious, even through the phone, and Yang nodded to herself.

“I love you too.” The pair hung up, and Yang gripped her steering wheel tightly before turning her car back on and turning back towards the Belladonnas.

Her mind felt oddly steady during the drive. Her anxiety was still there, but knowing she’d be able to see Blake again so soon was putting her at ease. She was sure that all her worries would come back the moment she left once more, but if she pulled Blake aside, if she let out all her feelings to truly let the other girl understand how she felt, then maybe they could still figure out a way that they could both spend the holidays happily together.

As the Belladonna’s home came into view she could see several cars already in the driveway and pulled to the curb in front. Reaching into the back seat she grabbed the gift and with a tiny amount of curiosity gave it a light shake. It was surprising how light the gift was in general, and even as she shook it harder and harder she couldn’t hear anything inside. If she didn’t know better she’d think the gift was empty. Shrugging to herself, she braced herself for the cold and stepped from her car, gift in hand, and glanced at the impressive home that was the Belladonna’s.

Enormous bay windows revealed a tall living room with a brightly lit Christmas tree sparkling in the corner. She could see several members of the family, as well as a few friends she and Blake shared, walking around and eating little chunks of cheese and ham on toothpicks. Her mouth watered slightly as she remembered the food they’d served for Thanksgiving, but snapping from her trace she remembered the weight of the night and her current goal.

Stepping across a freshly shoveled sidewalk and up the path to the house, Yang barely had time to ring the doorbell when she heard the lock turn and the sizable oak door swung open.

“Yang! Guys, she’s here!” Blake shouted back in the home, and as she gestured Yang inside the other girl instead only shook her head.

“I don’t think I should stay long, and I was hoping to tal-” Yang hoped she’d be able to pull Blake aside and talk without involving the rest of the family when suddenly Kali Belladonna, Blake’s mother, turned the corner into the entryway and gave a soft smile to Yang.

“Yang, so good to see you! I was worried we wouldn’t get to see you for the holidays!” Again, Kali matched Blake’s gestures and attempted to get Yang to come inside, and again she shook her head and instead held out the gift in her hands.

“Ah, actually I won’t be staying. Blake just forgot your gift in my car, so I’m dropping it off before I go to see my family.” As Yang extended the gift out, Kali chuckled softly and shared a brief look with Blake, before pushing the gift back towards Yang.

“Actually dear, I think this gift is for you. You should probably open it.” Kali shared Blake’s surprising enthusiasm, and Yang frowned as she looked down at the wrapped box she was fairly convinced was empty. Shrugging and filled with curiosity, she tore the paper from the gift and found it to be a very simple little gift box. Pulling the lid from the base, she squinted as she realized the gift was empty, but that the bottom of the box had writing across it.

_ TURN AROUND! _

Tilting her head as she reread the two boldly written words, Yang looked to the pair and found the two of them looking over her shoulder.

As Yang turned around, a car pulled in just a little behind hers, and her heart began to race.

“YANG!” In no time at all one of the back doors swung open and Yang’s younger sister Ruby Rose was sprinting towards her through the snow. Short red tipped black hair bounced as she ran, a flowing red cape flapping behind her as she rushed Yang and gave her a sudden and tight hug.

“Ruby!?” Glancing from her sister and back to the car, she watched as her step mother and father got out of either side of the front, her step mother having to close Ruby’s door as well as her own before glancing up to Yang with a smile. “Mom!? Dad!?”

“Heyy, how’s it going? You took your sweet time getting back, we were worried the heater was gonna give out before you got here!” Laughing as he took Summer Rose’s hand in his own, Taiyang Xiao Long stepped up the path to the house and gave a polite nod to Kali. “Now Yang, I know this is all a bit much, but how about we get out of the cold before we get to the grand reveal!”

Yang was speechless, but at the final insistence of her own parents, she finally stepped through the threshold of the house in complete and total shock. Even more shocking, as she let her coat be taken by Kali and putting her boots to the side, were the decorations that filled the home.

From her position outside the house she’d had a decent view of the Christmas decorations in the living room, but along the hallway and in the kitchen the decorations were various blues and white. Hanukkah themed plates and tablecloths were spread across every visible surface along with blue and white paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling; there was even a small bowl of chocolate coins placed gently in front of a small menorah. She was blown away by what she was witnessing, and with her jaw hanging open as she struggled to speak, she turned to Blake who rushed to her side and embraced her in a tight hug.

“Happy Hanukkah Yang!” Blinking her shock away, Yang processed the full extent of the gift she’d been given, and returned the hug as tightly as she could.

“Merry Christmas Blake.” Tears had started to stream from Yang’s eyes, and as Blake pulled away she started to panic.

“We’ll let you two settle in.” Summer Rose put a gentle hand on Yang, sensing the chaos going on within her stepdaughter, and with a nod and a soft smile she turned to escort Taiyang and Ruby into the living room with the rest of the Belladonnas. 

Blake took Yang to her room, sensing that whatever was going through Yang’s mind she’d want to talk about in private, and as the door closed Yang unloaded all the emotions she’d been feeling for the past weeks. She explained her worries that Blake didn’t want to spend the holidays with her, that maybe some sudden unexplainable space had formed between them and Blake either didn’t notice or didn’t care, that she was horrified that something as small as where to spend the holidays was a domino threatening to topple over a series of events that would break them apart.

“I- I had no idea.” Blake felt a pang of guilt in her chest as she realized all the silent suffering Yang had been going through that past week, and especially those past few hours. “Yang I’m so sorry, if I had known… I just had all these plans and all these surprises, I was so focused on this that I guess I thought it would all just work out…”

“No, it’s… It’s my fault. I should’ve said something sooner, or not blown things so out of proportion in my mind.” Between sniffles, Yang did her best to wipe away the tears that had steadily ceased their flow. “I’m happy, really. This is the most amazing gift you could’ve ever gotten me, I just feel terrible that I’m spoiling it with all this.”

Gesturing to herself with a forced laugh, Blake shook her head and pulled Yang as close as she could.

“You’re not ruining anything Yang, I promise.” Yang let out another sniffle, returning the hold with as much strength as she could muster, until she heard a light groan from Blake.

“Ah, sorry.” Letting go she chuckled slightly as Blake wheezed slightly and shook her head with a hand raised.

“No no, I’m good. You had a lot to get out, I get it.” The pair shared in a laugh and then a brief period of silence as Yang wiped from her cheeks the last of the tears.

“I must look a mess. Do you mind if we stay here a few minutes before we go and see everybody? I’m eager to see my family but I think I’d only worry them if they saw me like this.” Yang gestured to her face, where red and bloodshot eyes with dried streaks along her cheeks were clear signs she’d been bawling her eyes out.

“First off, you look  _ beautiful _ , always have and always will.” Yang chuckled at the flattery of her partner. “Secondly, we can take as long as you like. I’m excited to see them too, to finally meet them in person, but something about laying here together with you has just slightly more appeal.”

“True. So little as a year ago and your dad would be knocking on the door insisting we keep it cracked  _ just in case _ .” Glancing towards the closed door the pair could see a poster of the book Yang had gifted Blake pinned to the wooden surface, and they let themselves become lost in the memories they’d spent together in that very room over the years.

“He still might. All these years later but he’s still dear old dad.” Snickering to herself, Blake scooted along the bed, pulling Yang best she could towards the pillows, and gently the pair rested their heads down facing one another.

“Thank you for all of this Blake. You have no idea how much all this means. I have a lot of questions questions about how you made any of this possible, but for now I think I really just want to enjoy this moment.” Scooting closer together on the bed, Yang placed her forehead to Blake’s, the two staring deeply into one another’s eyes and smiling bright.

“Of course.” Slowly, Blake’s lips hovered towards Yang, her voice lowering to practically a whisper. “Happy Hanukkah Yang.”

“Merry Christmas Blake.” Matching the motion, Yang moved slowly forward, her voice almost impossible to hear. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
